Top Free Online Courses and the Best Computers to Use

The world has scarcely caught up with the concept of online courses for college degrees, and already there are new advancements that could potentially turn the education world on its ear—but in a good way. In a case for the ultimate democratization of education and resources to help make the world a better place, free online courses are being offered by a rapidly growing number of colleges and universities with names as prestigious as Harvard and Yale. Now you may need a new computer to help you maximize your efforts. To find the one that’s right for you, check out the Intel Learning Centre and then pop online to peruse some of the interesting courses listed below.

Going Scientific with Free Online Courses

With a variety of offerings that run the range from biology to chemistry to physics, MIT’s Open Courseware initiative also offers nearly a dozen totally free online courses in earth science, with specialties that include sustainability, geophysics, planetary science, environmental science, and atmospheric science. If physics is more your thing, you can also find a number of courses ranging from astrophysics to condensed matter physics, and from thermodynamics to particle physics.

Math Educations Rule, but Free Online Math Courses Are Even Better

Aspiring online college students with a passion for math don’t have to look far to find a bevy of free coursework from some of the world’s most esteemed learning institutions. MIT is offering a course called 2.01x: Elements of Structures, which covers the fundamentals of continuum mechanics. For coursework that’s not quite so advanced as that, Udacity* offers free coursework in college algebra, which only requires an understanding of basic arithmetic. So no matter if you’re just getting started or pursuing advanced interests, there are plenty of choices.

Multilingual Online Courses? There’s an App for That!

Believe it or not, there really is. And leave it to Stanford University to up the ante on free online coursework by developing an application, available through Apple, called iTunes U* which gives you free access to courses from leading universities the world over. This groundbreaking educational app is truly the ultimate multilingual solution to online education and comes in more than two dozen languages: English, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

The computer you use to take your online courses is your conduit to bridging the physical distance, downloading study tools, viewing presentations, video chatting with others taking courses, and keeping up with friends at the same time. You'll want to make sure you have a computer that will fit your needs. Visit the Intel Learning Centre to find the computer that will help you earn your degree.

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